Being Blake Gallo
by Takara Phoenix
Summary: During a mission in the Seelie Realm, Simon accidentally falls through a portal and wakes up in a parallel world where his name is Blake Gallo, he's a firefighter and he's married to Jace Herondale. That's a lot to get used to while trying to figure out how to return home. Simon/Jace slash


Shadowhunters || Jimon || ChicagoFire || Being Blake Gallo || ChicagoFire || Jimon || Shadowhunters

Title: Being Blake Gallo – From Vampire to Firefighter

Fandoms: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments | Chicago Fire

Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. All rights to Chicago Fire reserved to Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: m/m, alternate reality: Chicago Fire, fluff, pining, f/f

Main Pairing: Simon/Jace | Blake/Jace

Side Pairings: Kelly/Matt, Emily/Sylvie

Shadowhunters Characters: Jonathan Christopher 'Jace' Herondale, Simon Lewis, Magnus Bane

Chicago Fire Characters: Blake Gallo, Matt Casey, Kelly Severide, Sylvie Brett, Emily Foster

Summary: During a mission in the Seelie Realm, Simon accidentally falls through a portal and wakes up in a parallel world where his name is Blake Gallo, he's a firefighter _and he's married to Jace Herondale_. That's a lot to get used to while trying to figure out how to return home.

**Being Blake Gallo**

_From Vampire to Firefighter_

Everything was fuzzy when Simon woke up in the morning to something tickling his nose. It wasn't the sun. It was hair. Blinking slowly, Simon looked at the golden-blonde head in front of him. He had his nose buried in that soft, blonde hair. Okay that was weird. He didn't remember taking anyone home with him. Turning onto his back, he looked around the room. Okay, maybe he was the one who got taken home...? He doesn't know this place. Strange. His mind was like his head was filled with cotton and bees, but it wasn't entirely right. Didn't feel like a hangover and Simon hadn't exactly gotten blackout drunk before, like _ever_. Not to mention, it was far harder for him to get drunk now that he was a vampire and he needed a _very_ good reason to try and get drunk. He couldn't remember anything overly negative happening...?

He was living with Bat now and he had been happy for Bat and Maia, who had recently started going out with each other, both separately gushing to Simon about the other. He had rekindled things with his mom, who had needed time alone to digest after the Heidi-incident and he had been tempted to encanto her into forgetting all about him but how could he? How could he make her believe that he was dead? He took his distance and let Rebecca and Luke explain things to Elaine, giving her time to settle with it. In the end, Luke was the one to get through. Reminding her of losing Levi and how much it had destroyed her; was she truly willing to give Simon up? He was still there, still her son, he had died but by a supernatural miracle, he was alive again. He wasn't a soulless monster, he was still Simon. He had also gone back to college, now that the war ended.

Everything was actually rather good. Family, friends, college, gigs – he regularly got booked to perform, mostly in the _Hunter's Moon_ but also other establishments. Clary was good, she was still recovering from everything that had happened during the war and so was Jace. The two were relying heavily on each other for that, the children of Valentine, one way or the other. Simon was happy for Jace, glad he had found a sense of family with Clary and Luke, that at least one good thing had come out of everything Valentine had done to Jace.

"Jace", whispered Simon wide-eyed when his bed-partner rolled over.

"Hng...", grunted Jace before snuggling up to Simon.

Okay. Okay. Whatever had happened last night, _this_ was not what he had expected. Jace, naked, in the same bed as Simon, cuddling up to Simon. Sure, Simon had had a crush on Jace pretty much since the day they had met and ever since the reveal that Clary and Jace were siblings, Simon had gotten to spend more time with Jace, bonding with him kind of by default of being Clary's best friend. Which, obviously, made the crush _way way worse_. However, there was no way Jace liked him back. Jace seemed so perfect and focused. His focus was on winning the war, finishing his missions, and nowadays he was also very focused on his mental health, with the occasional hook-up as a side-line distraction. There had never been a _relationship_ in Jace's life though and Simon, Simon was huge on relationships, not just one-night-stands. He couldn't do that, he couldn't just sleep with Jace and then move on and go back to being friends.

Which brought him back to the most important question: _What_ in the world had happened last night to lead him not just into bed with Jace but also into... wherever this was? Because this was not Simon and Bat's apartment and it also wasn't Jace's bedroom at the Institute. Where were they?

"You're thinking too loud", groaned Jace, nuzzling his face into Simon's neck. "Please stop, you always do that... nervous fidgeting when you're thinking, it's too early for that, stop."

"Right, right, right. Sorry", stammered Simon awkwardly.

Jace chuckled softly and folded his arms over Simon's chest, resting his chin on his crossed arms and looking at Simon with hooded eyes. It was the way Jace looked at him though, with so much _love_ in his eyes. It choked Simon right up. Carefully, as though he wasn't sure he was allowed to, he wrapped his arms around Jace's waist, but the blonde just cuddled closer.

"What's going on?", asked Jace gently. "You seem out of it."

"Mh? Me? What, no, never", laughed Simon awkwardly.

"Blake, you're a shitty liar", laughed Jace and kissed him. "That's something I love about you."

Blake? Simon blinked very slowly, very confused. Okay, maybe there was more wrong here than just sudden one-night-stand and blackout about last night. Something was definitely up.

"...Sorry. Uh... I guess... yesterday just threw me off", offered Simon vaguely.

Maybe Jace would willingly fill in the blanks about yesterday, maybe he would now reveal that this was some Star Trek sex-pollen nonsense or whatever. Jace turned more serious, kissing his cheek.

"Hey, yeah no. I get it. I mean, as much as I can get it. I can't imagine what it must be like to risk your life every single day to save others", whispered Jace gently. "You're my _hero_."

Okay, _so_ many things wrong here. Jace not knowing what it was like to risk his life for others? That didn't check out. And _Simon_ being Jace's hero? How? What? This was like some bizarre... alternate reality. _Oh_. It was still frayed around the edges but Simon vaguely recalled the Seelie Realm. Meliorn, warning them to watch out for the doorways. So many different doors just standing around in the field. Alternate realities. There was a... fight? Jace had called out for him but by then Simon had already... fallen through a door. This was bizarre and off because it wasn't _his_ reality.

"Hey?", whispered Jace with a frown. "Your face keeps doing weird things and you keep spacing out. Okay. This is it. I'm calling Boden, you're staying home today."

"I... What's a Boden?", asked Simon, only half paying attention, too focused on his memories.

"Oh, I am _definitely_ calling Chief Wallace Boden, your _boss_", grunted Jace pointedly. "Whatever happened yesterday, maybe you hit your head or something. But you're staying home today."

Chief? What kind of chief? What kind of _job_ did Simon have? Jace sat up on the bed and grabbed a shit, a gray one with a red emblem on it. The shirt was loose on Jace, slipping off his shoulder in a very alluring way. Simon squinted at the emblem. Chicago Fire Department. Wait. Was that his shirt? Was Simon working for the fire department? In Chicago?

"Hello Chief Boden, Jace Herondale. I'm just calling about Blake. Yeah, I think he's not feeling well. Maybe what happened yesterday was a bit much? I think it'd be best if he stays home today. He is _definitely_ not in any state to run into a burning building today", declared Jace before pausing for a moment, nodding at something the other was saying. "Yeah. Thanks. Good day, chief."

Burning buildings. Yeah, so Simon was a firefighter. Cool, cool, cool. How did _that_ happen?

"Uhm... thanks... babe...?", tried Simon slowly after a moment.

"Do you want me to stay home too?", asked Jace concerned, cupping Simon's face.

"No. No, it's fine. I just... I think I just... maybe need a day. Just, sleep it off, relax, I'm sure I'll be better tomorrow", assured Simon, offering Jace a smile. "You, go to work. It's important."

"Ah, yes", laughed Jace and shook his head. "Super important cake-baking, sure."

Cake-baking? The mental image of Jace in an apron, with flour in his hair, it was _adorable_. And such a wild contrast to Jace 'Badass' Herondale, slayer of demons. Then again, Simon Lewis, studying accounting (because he was already _a vampire_ so studying what his mom wanted was probably like the least he could do) was most definitely a contrast to... Blake Lewis, firefighter. Blake. Simon wiggled his nose a little. It wasn't the hugest surprise about this world, he knew his mom and dad had like half a dozen names they had narrowed it down to and only last minute chosen Simon then. He knew Blake had been among them. Could be worse, one of the other names had been Ariel. And Ariel would have gotten him _so_ much teasing thanks to Disney.

"Okay, if you're sure about it, I'm going to get a shower and get ready, you, rest some."

Jace leaned down to kiss Simon, resting a hand on Simon's chest. Simon caught the hand nearly on instinct as he returned the kiss. His eyes caught on the matching wedding-bands on their hands. _Oh_.

"You go bake amazing cakes, awesome husband", whispered Simon, dazed by the realization.

"You're such a dork", sighed Jace fondly as he went to get clothes from the closet. "You haven't done that in months. I thought you had finally settled with this whole marriage thing."

"I'll have you know that I will _never_ settle with that!", called Simon out. "How could I possibly get used to this gorgeous, amazing, adorable husband of mine? I shall _forever_ be in awe!"

And that wasn't even fake. If he'd be married to Jace Herondale? He would most definitely never stop being in awe of that, he would always adore Jace and be amazed by being married to him! Simon sighed and laid back down when he heard the water running in the bathroom. Blinking, he reached for the phone next to himself. And... he couldn't unlock it. Mh. Okay, figured. Different pin. What would Blake Lewis, firefighter and husband of Jace Herondale, use as pin...? He tried Jace's birthday – his _actual_ birthday, which they had learned from Imogen. And it worked. Damn, why was Simon like this. He smiled softly at his phone background. Jace and Simon, sitting on a couch and goofing around, Simon kissing Jace's cheek while Jace was laughing. It was so... domestic and cute. It was hard to believe that there was a reality where Simon was happily married to his crush.

"Okay, okay, okay", whispered Simon to himself. "I have to figure out... who I am."

His contacts. He had to check his contacts. Jace's number was saved under ANGEL HUBBY 33, which yeah that checked out. The picture was of Jace with a puppy-filter, which oh god that was way too adorable, Simon wished he could send that picture to his phone in his world. There was a contact called Fire Dad #1 and another one called Fire Dad #2. That was interesting. There was also a group-chat just called 51 and two of the people in the chat were his... Fire Dads. So maybe that was his station? 51? He checked the pictures, so he would know to recognize their faces even if he lacked the actual names. What was weird was that Clary was nowhere to be found. Neither were his mom or Rebecca, not even Luke. Something about this world was fundamentally different and he _really_ needed to find out what it was, but maybe best after his husband has left, because it may look suspicious if he was snooping around his own life.

"Babe, I'm heading out", announced Jace as he poked his head in. "You sure you're going to be fine? If _anything_ happens, you call me, okay? Or Matt or Kelly."

Simon simply nodded, not knowing who Matt or Kelly were. "Have a good day, angel."

Jace paused for a moment and smiled softly. Figured that this was a usual nickname, considering the contact. Jace waved at him one last time before leaving the room. Moments later and the front door closed loudly behind Jace. Simon waited another couple minutes, just to make sure Jace hadn't forgotten anything and wasn't going to come back. First things first, a shower and fresh clothes. Finding the bathroom was not too hard, though they had a nice house. Their bedroom, office, another bedroom that looked like a guest-room, as well as a bathroom upstairs. The bathroom was large and the shower was exactly what Simon had needed. Back into their bedroom, he got a fresh change of clothes before getting to work. Mission: Who is Blake Lewis?

First he checked his wallet and realized that his mission, apparently, was a different one after all. Who is Blake _Gallo_? And _that_ really was a good question. Because his parents picking a different first-name for him? Okay, sure. But how did one end up with a different last name...? After all, a look into the mirror told him he very much looked just like himself, which meant his genetic makeup was the same as in his own world. He went through the bed room and the office for official documents and such. Finding his birth certificate told him that no, he had been born Blake Lewis. Only after he had gone through the house and moved on to his laptop did he find an answer.

He just googled himself. And... he needed a moment after he found the arbitrary of his mom, sister and apparently his stepfather. The thought of his mom and Rebecca being dead was _jarring_. He need to gather himself before he could dig into it and piece together what had changed in his life.

News-articles, the official documents he had found in the office, as well as a personal kind of journal, all fit together to paint a picture and Simon didn't know how to feel about that picture.

Levi Lewis had died, just like he had in Simon's world, leaving a widow and two children behind. But that was where things went different in this world. Because in his world, Elaine succumbed to her grief, using alcohol to cope, the alcoholism nearly taking Simon's mom from him too. In this world, Elaine had grabbed her kids, packed up and left New York, left the place filled with sad memories. Simon remembered that his mom had like an aunt in Chicago, apparently Elaine had sought her out to help overcome the loss of her husband. That was where she met Ibrahim Gallo and then got married to him when Simon was still little. So this world's Simon got to grow up with a father-figure in his life, one whose last-name Simon and Rebecca had taken on too apparently.

And then, when Simon was twelve years old, his entire family died in a fire. He was the sole survivor, losing his mother, sister and stepfather to the flames.

It didn't take a genius to piece together why Blake Gallo had chosen to become a firefighter after that. It was a traumatizing event for anyone, but even more so for a kid. Only twelve. His grandma Helen had moved to Chicago to raise him after that, apparently, and he had trained hard to become a firefighter, to save lives like his own life had been saved.

There were so many photos on his phone, most of them of himself with Jace or with firefighters. His colleagues. There were some with his grandma and others, surprisingly with Inquisitor Herondale. Then again, she was like his grandma-in-law. Still, it was weird to see pictures of himself with a smiling Imogen. There were others and those were a bit like a blow to the gut. A _beautiful_, truly breathtaking, blonde woman with a kind smile, flowers braided into her hair as Jace had his arms wrapped around her neck from behind, matching mismatched eyes smiling into the camera. Celiné Herondale. That was... That was Jace's mom. The very same who had killed herself highly pregnant with Jace, the one Jace had never gotten to meet. Another with a stern but kind looking dark-blonde man who had an arm around Simon and one around Jace and one photo of the man and woman holding hands, leaning against each other. Those were Jace's parents.

It was weird, like a rollercoaster. On the on hand, this world had not made Elaine an alcoholic and even given her a second chance at love, but on the other hand, this world had taken Elaine and Rebecca from Simon. And where Simon had lost his family, Jace had gotten to keep his in this reality and somehow, Simon had been allowed to be a part of Jace's family.

Simon needed a moment to himself there. He sat in the kitchen, nursing a coffee. That was when he realized that he wasn't a vampire here. He was a mundie. After that, he raided the fridge, glad to taste food properly again and also eating his feelings about all of this.

Knocking on the door startled Simon. He considered ignoring it, but it was very insistent.

"Gallo? We know you're home. It's Brett and Foster. Jace texted us, asked us to check on you."

Taking a deep breath, he went to open the door with a smile. In front of him were two pretty women, a bit older than him. The blonde one looked incredibly concerned.

"Hey. Jace said you're not feeling too hot so Foster and I figured, since we just had a call nearby, we could check on you, see if you're... alright", offered Brett.

Brett. Sylvie Brett. And Emily Foster. Simon remembered both those names from the group-chat. He offered them a smile and stepped aside to let them in. No need to raise suspicions.

"I'm fine, really. Jace is just fussing. I guess I just need... more rest", argued Simon vaguely.

"You're still new, kid", grunted Foster, backing Simon off against the couch. "Yesterday was a rough call. It always messes with you when you lose someone on a call, you know, that'll never stop. But still, Jace said you were being weird, said maybe you hit your head or something. It was a messy call yesterday, maybe you _did_ hit your head. Let us check you out. We're not bringing you to the hospital, okay? Just to make sure it's nothing physical, yeah?"

Simon nodded, knowing this was better than if they actually brought him to a hospital. He allowed Brett and Foster to check him, going through the motions. Brett kept chatting with him with a smile, talking about plans to go to pride together. Which huh.

"I know it's going to be awesome, I just, you know, still... new to all of this", chatted Brett.

Simon liked her. She reminded him of himself. Nervous chatter and lots of rambling, while still smiling and trying to be reassuring, being kind. It figured that he'd befriend someone like her.

"Yes, since my evil bisexual magic converted her to lesbianism", snickered Foster.

"It did!", exclaimed Brett. "I grow up in a small town, nice and straight, and then _you_ come along with your contagious homosexuality. You know what I mean, Gallo?"

"Yeah no, can't relate. Been bisexual all my life", nodded Simon, cracking a smile.

Brett huffed. "Anyway, yeah. I'm really looking forward to going to pride with your guys. I've always just been as an ally... this is... my first time going as a gay... I am a gay."

"Baby gays are so adorable", whispered Foster with a smirk. "Was Jace the same? He said he thought he was straight until he met you too and came to embrace the 'power of pansexuality'?"

"I... yeah, kind of", nodded Simon, not actually knowing the answer.

He came to wonder about Jace's sexuality – _his_ Jace, not Blake's Jace. Urgh, this was confusing.

"Anyway", laughed Brett. "Ritter said him and his boyfriend may not be able to make it – I swear, I start thinking that he's imaginary, because Ritter's been dodging the whole introduction thing for way too long now. But! Matt and Kelly are going to come."

Brett looked incredibly pleased by that. It reminded Simon of how happy he had been when he had managed to drag Magnus, Alec, Underhill and Lorenzo to pride. Matt and Kelly. Were they maybe Fire Dad #1 and Fire Dad #2? Had Simon managed to get kinda work-adopted by two gay firefighters? How awesome was that...?

"You know that Sylvie is planning on putting you, me and Kelly into color-coded clothes, right?", whispered Foster in a conspiracy-theory voice. "Each in one color and then we walk side by side as the bi-pride flag. I called dibs on blue, just so you know. I'm not going to be the one wearing all pink just because I'm the girl in this trio."

"Yeah, totally, I hear you", laughed Simon.

"We're going shopping next week", declared Sylvie excitedly. "Oh, I can't wait to see how the color-combination of pink, orange and white will look on me..."

"You'll look great, babe. You always look great", assured Emily with a faint, soft smile.

"Good answer", nodded Sylvie pleased before pecking Emily's cheek.

Simon smiled fondly at them. He could see himself befriending them. Actually, he _literally_ could see himself befriending them. Memories pushed to the forefront of his mind, about how he first met them in a fire-house, standing in front of an ambulance, shaking hands. He felt dizzy when he came back to it. Interesting so he could access Blake Gallo's memories, to some extend at least.

"Hey there, you alright?", asked Foster concerned, grabbing him by the shoulder.

"Huh. Yeah. Just... dizzy-spell, I guess? I think I didn't sleep enough last night."

"Okay", sighed Sylvie. "You do that, but if you still feel like that tomorrow, you go to the hospital. If you try to fight us on that, I will personally drag you to see a doctor."

"_You_ will?", asked Foster amused, eyebrows raised as she looked her girlfriend up and down.

"I will have Joe drag him to see a doctor", huffed Sylvie, narrowing her eyes.

"If I don't feel better tomorrow, I will go see a doctor", promised Simon. "Thanks for checking in on me, guys. But you should get back to the fire-house, right?"

"Right, we probably should", agreed Foster as she exchanged a look with Brett.

"Get better soon, Gallo! Keep us posted!", called Sylvie out as they left the house.

Simon sighed and leaned back on the couch. Okay. It was probably not good that he could remember some of Blake's memories. Clary. Clary had told him about this, when she had been in the parallel world a year ago. She had started to fade the more she engaged with the world, the more she became that other Clary. Simon couldn't risk that. What if he just... ceased to exist...? That thought was horrifying. No, he had to return to his own body, to see his mom and sister and Clary and Jace and Luke and _everyone_. He needed to see if there was a chance for himself and his Jace. No, wait, so not the priority right now. The priority is getting home for now.

Okay. Taking a deep breath, Simon sat up. What could he do to leave this place? Waiting for Jace and Meliorn to save him? Could he afford to wait? What if that time spent pretending to be Blake Gallo led to him actually becoming Blake Gallo and forgetting Simon Lewis...?

For now, waiting may be the only thing he can do. He really did feel a bit exhausted and whacky from the whole... dimension-traveling. So perhaps he should rest for a little while and hope that he'd wake up in his own body again. Maybe Magnus would be working his magic and bring him home.

/break\

Simon woke up to the scent of pancakes. Licking his lips and sniffing the air, Simon sat up.

"Hey, babe. I figured breakfast for dinner should make you feel better?"

Jace in an apron, making Simon pancakes. Nope, still not back in his own world. But the view in this world was really nice. He slowly sat up and watched Jace work. Once Jace was done, he piled the pancakes on one plate and then walked over to Simon, just to... sit down on Simon's lap. Simon stared wide-eyed as Jace comfortably settled on Simon's lap, facing Simon, with his legs on either side of Simon. First, he leaned in to steal a kiss, before he started feeding Simon. And wow. There was just _so much_ happening here. Simon was _never_ going to be able to digest all of this.

"Sylvie sent me a text. Said you seem fine. Are you feeling better?", asked Jace softly. "There was radio-silence all day. There's never radio-silence with you. Even when you have long shifts..."

"I... honestly, I slept nearly the whole day, aside from when Foster and Brett were over?"

"And did it help? Do you feel better now?"

"A little, yeah, I guess. Thank you, babe. You're amazing", whispered Simon.

"I know I'm awesome", smirked Jace before kissing the tip of Simon's nose. "Now open up."

Simon opened his mouth and allowed Jace to feed him. Man, this world was bizarre. And Simon kind loved _this_ aspect of it. Jace was so carefree and sweet and affectionate. This was what Jace could be, how happy Jace could be, if Valentine hadn't killed his parents and abused him for ten years. Simon wanted that for Jace, wanted him to be free of these burdens. The fighting, being a child-soldier, carrying all this weight on his shoulders, having nearly killed his grandma _and_ his parabatai while he was _possessed by the mother of all demons_. Seriously. Jace's life was just so incredibly messed up. And this? Jace who had not just his grandma but also his mother and father in his life, who hadn't been abused (far as Simon could tell), who wasn't a child-soldier and trained to kill, who was free to laugh and curl up on the couch, who was a... baker, which was like _the_ most harmless soft thing that Simon could imagine? Then again, Clary had told him that the other parallel-world Jace had been running a coffee-truck, which was also selling self-baked goods? So maybe... that was in Jace, somewhere. Now Simon wanted to make _his_ Jace bake.

And Simon really needed to stop referring to the Jace from his Earth as 'his', because while he was from Simon's world, he was most definitely not _his_, not in the sense Simon wanted him to be.

/break\

"Morning, babe", whispered Jace lowly, kissing Simon's cheek.

Okay so this whole waking up to Jace in his space was really great? He could get used to it, he wanted to get used to it. He really needed Magnus to get him back home ASAP.

"M... Morning, angel", replied Simon reluctantly before being kissed on his lips.

Jace rolled over to sit on Simon's waist. Oh. Right. At one point, Jace was going to want to have sex with his boyfriend, but like Simon couldn't do that? He _really_ couldn't. Because Jace wanted to have sex with someone who wasn't Simon. Carefully, Simon rested his hands on Jace's hips.

"Uh, I... don't really feel... _that_ good yet", offered Simon carefully.

"Oh. Right. Okay", nodded Jace, kissing Simon's cheek before getting up.

Simon bit his lips and rolled over onto his side to look at Jace. Jace was so beautiful like this, hair ruffled, the morning sun making his eyes sparkle, not wearing a shirt. Simon wanted to wake up to this view every morning. When was Magnus going to magically summon him back home...?

"It's good it's your day off. Rest some more. Maybe see one of the guys?", offered Jace.

"See one of the guys?", echoed Simon confused.

"Yeah. Like, Matt or Kelly", replied Jace. "Talk to them about it. About how they handle tougher calls. I want you to feel better, okay? So, I'm going to head out for work, _unless_ you want me here."

"I mean, I always want you here with me, but I'll be fine", sighed Simon dramatically.

"Dork", huffed Jace and bent down to kiss Simon's cheek. "Be good. Call someone."

"Sure. You... have a good day, okay?", asked Simon gently.

He made a mental note to text Jace. Jace had complained yesterday that there had been an untypical radio-silence. And aw, the thought of Jace missing to hear from him? Jace, who always complained that Simon talked too much. Simon grinned softly to himself.

/break\

"You have to put these kind of days behind you, kid."

Simon looked up as Matt Casey spoke in a serious but somehow soft voice. Kelly Severide was raiding the fridge and returning with three beers, handing one to Simon before he sat down next to Matt on the other couch. When handing over the bottle, Kelly leaned in just enough to brush his lips against Matt's cheek, Matt barely reacting to it with the slightest quirking of his lips.

Once more, Simon's mind was overwhelmed with pictures, impressions, words – memories that weren't his. The way Matt and Kelly ran the fire-house together, two captains who rarely butted heads and mostly worked so incredibly efficient together. Blake had been over at their loft before, he remembered. One night, after drinking at _Molly's_ and being too wasted to find his way home. He had crashed on their couch. It was a nice place. Over breakfast, he had coaxed the story of how they had moved in together out of them. They had a bit of a on-again-off-again relationship before Matt's apartment was burned down – and holy shit, that had been its own entire story. And Kelly had offered him to stay for a while, at least until he'd find something new. Both hadn't felt like moving in together would have been the right next step – or the right next step to ask for, because they had both been unsure what the other wanted out of the relationship.

But they had enjoyed living together so much that Matt just kind of... didn't move out. And instead, moved from the guest-room to the master-bedroom. Their no-idea-what-to-call-it became a proper _relationship_. It had basically been the natural next step and it had felt _right_. At least that was what Matt had said with the most gentle expression on his face.

Simon remembered thinking that he wanted that too, that easy acceptance of each other, when two people knew each other _so well_ that those things just fell into place. Him and Jace had been freshly dating back then, Simon barely knew anything about his blonde back then.

"You still with us?", asked Kelly amused, one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry. Spaced... out", grunted Simon embarrassed.

"It's okay. You need... to find something to focus on", stated Matt with a sharper edge. "For Hermann, it's his family and _Molly's_. For the two of us, it's our fishing trips. You need something that's not your job, something you can look forward to, something to... ground you, especially on the bad days. To remind you that it's not all bad, that not every call ends with death."

"You gotta remember those you saved", advised Kelly, taking a slow sip from his beer. "Not that you should forget those you can't save, but your focus can't be on the loss – your focus has to be on those you managed to save, the good you have been able to do."

"That... That's solid advise", nodded Simon slowly. "Thanks, guys."

/break\

Memories kept flooding Simon. Going to work the next day only made it severely worse. He remembered going out with Darren Ritter, double-dates of meeting The Boyfriend. Ritter had been so nervous about coming out to the firehouse at first, before he realized that most just kept their private life, well, _private_. He remembered barbeques at Hermann's, with his many, _many_ children and how seeing Jace interact with the kids had made his heart warm. He remembered meeting Mouch's _very scary_ wife Trudy for the first time. He remembered puppy-dog-eyeing his way into girls' nights with Emily, Sylvie and Stella. He remembered trying to make Cruz warm up to him and, very slowly and gradually accomplishing it, making Cruz see past the fact that Blake had come to fill the spot left empty when Cruz' best friend had died.

He even, very vividly, remembered how he had first met Jace. He had still been with his previous firehouse, there had been a fire at Judge Herondale's estate, the fire had been set by some vengeful criminal who had just been released from a ten year sentence she had sent him to. Simon had carried Imogen Herondale out of the house, where her family – Stephen, Céline and Jace – had already been waiting. As soon as Imogen had been checked through, Jace basically suffocated him in a hug, thanking him for saving his grandma. The next day, Jace showed up with freshly baked goods for the whole firehouse to say thank you. It was _so good_, Blake had started coming over to the bakery regularly. They started flirting and then, in the end, finally went out. They had only recently gotten married, still kind of in their honeymoon phase.

Therein laid the problem. Simon started to slip into thinking of himself as Blake more and more. He started to indulge Jace more and more – in ways that came natural, ways that Blake did with his husband, but not Simon with _his_ Jace. He started to think of the firehouse as his _family_. He started to _forget_ his... real family. The other day, they had saved a little girl named Clary and he had thought curious, that name seemed oddly familiar. It took him hours to remember _his_ Clary. He had gone to the graveyard two days ago, crying and genuinely mourning Elaine, Rebecca and even a man _he_ had never actually met, before he remembered that _his_ mom and sister were still alive.

"I love you", whispered Simon softly, kissing Jace's temple. "I love you _so much_."

"Good morning to you too", yawned Jace before leaning up to kiss Simon properly. "You seem in an affectionate mood. I love when you're in an affectionate mood."

"I don't know, just... thinking about how lucky I am to have you", whispered Simon softly. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life, to call you my husband. And your family. They took me in like I'm one of them right from the start. I'm so lucky to have found you."

Jace grinned confused and pressed his lips gently against Simon's once more. "Babe, that's not luck. It's fate. I'm telling you, you and me we're meant to be."

"Really?", laughed Simon. "Even say in a world where _everything_ is different, where we're different? You think even then you and I would get together, fall in love?"

"You could be a scoundrel and I could be a princess and we'd still fall in love", whispered Jace.

"...Oh, a _Star Wars_ reference, I love you so much", muttered Simon in awe.

/break\

"Welcome home, Simon. How do you feel?"

"Jace...?", grunted Simon confused before blinking. "Jace...?"

"He's... not here. I did call him and the others though. Now, how do you feel?"

The picture in front of him was unfocused until he was handed glasses. And oh. He had _not_ missed those. Blinking again, he looked at the man in front of him. Magnus Bane. It took Simon a moment but then he laughed brightly and lunged forward to pull the warlock into a hug.

"You brought me back, I started to forget me and you brought me back", laughed Simon.

"Of course we did", chuckled Magnus, tentatively returning the hug. "Though... Jace was the one who left no stone unturned. He spent weeks checking the different realities to find you, with Meliorn's guidance and some Seelie-magic to spot who was also out of place in that world."

"...He really did that, huh?", asked Simon surprised, eyes large.

Magnus smiled amused. "Judging from what I heard from Alexander that Jace told him about the world he found you in, it shouldn't surprise you _that much_ that he'd not give up looking, mh?"

"...Wait. Jace was in that world. Jace was Jace in that world and that's how he found me", asked Simon mortified. "But... When? And what did he tell Alec and what did Alec tell you?"

All he got in return was a mischievous smirk from Magnus. "You should rest some, then you will be receiving your guests who should arrive by then. Everyone was very worried about you."

Simon settled back in, heart filling with warmth at the thought of everyone worrying about him.

/break\

Being welcomed back and showered in affection and hugs was somehow more exhausting than a whole shift at 51. His mom and sister smothered him, they had been worried out of their _minds_ and apparently, Clary and Isabelle had done the lion's share of reassuring them and making sure they knew that Simon would be found. Clary, Isabelle, Maia, Bat, Luke of course, they had all come and sat with him, questioning him about the world he had visited, how he was doing. He told them _nearly_ the whole truth. He left out his marriage to Jace.

He got released from Magnus' care at the end of the day, telling him that he was 'good to go'. Bat and Maia had both helped him settle in, but then he sent them out. He just... needed some time to himself, the day had been very overwhelming. They understood it and decided on an impromptu date to leave Simon be. In all honestly, why Simon wanted to be alone was because he... _missed_ Jace. He laid in his bed and missed the way his _husband_ had felt in his arms. Worse yet, Jace hadn't come to see him yet, despite what Magnus had said earlier.

Simon sighed and stared off into the distance when suddenly a portal opened in the middle of his bedroom and Jace got shoved through it by who Simon assumed to be Magnus. Jace glared over his shoulder just as the portal closed. Slowly, Simon sat up, watching the Shadowhunter.

"Magnus said you... spent weeks looking for me. And that you were _in_ the reality... that I was in. And told Alec about it. But then you didn't come to visit me", blurted Simon out immediately.

Much to his surprise, Jace's cheeks did darken a little. "Yeah, I entered my alternate reality's body just in the middle of you... kissing him. But Meliorn's magic, it told me that was actually _you_. So, I returned and told Magnus to get you out of there. That's it."

"Sure. And you're blushing about kissing me because you're super casual about it", hummed Simon, taking a deep breath as he got up. "There's something that your alternate self said to me, the day before you got me out. He... told me that you and me, we're _meant_ to be, that we'd find each other in every reality. And... And I guess we did? Even in a world where I moved to Chicago after my dad's death, where I became a fire fighter, where you're not a Shadowhunter but a baker, even there we found each other. And we were _married_ in that world. I just... I have one question, Jace. How many? How many of the realities you visited had you and me be together?"

"...Nineteen", whispered Jace softly.

"And how many did you visit in total?", asked Simon, eyebrows raised.

"Twenty-one", sighed Jace and tilted his head back. "But that doesn't mean anything-"

"It doesn't _have_ to mean anything", corrected Simon. "But it _can_. I... want it to mean something."

"You... do?", asked Jace surprised, head snapping up to stare at Simon.

"Jace, I just spent three weeks _married_ to you", huffed Simon. "I've had the hugest crush on you for so long and now I spent three weeks being married to you, waking up with you in my arms, kissing you, sharing meals with you, I mean damn I think I just may have totally fallen head over heels in love with you. If I can realistically have even a fraction of all of that, with the _real_ you...?"

"The real me?", echoed Jace and raised one eyebrow. "What? Don't want the uncomplicated, emotionally available, carefree _baker_, who didn't have all this... baggage?"

"Jace...", started Simon tentatively. "That was... I was happy for the life that version of you got to live, I was happy that you got to grow up with your parents in that world. That that version of me who had lost everything got you to love him and take him in. In our world, you're the one who lost everything. And I'll be glad to be there for _you_."

Jace reached out for Simon, looking into his eyes before pulling him into a kiss. Simon smiled softly before pecking Jace's lips again. His arms found their way around Jace's waist, pulling him closer until Jace laid his own arms around Simon's neck.

"I saw... _so_ many versions of us and they... were all happy", whispered Jace softly. "The first time, I scoffed at it. But the more often it happened, the more... I wanted it. I tried telling myself that it was all about the emotions of the other versions of me, but..."

"But?", prodded Simon gently while nosing Jace's cheek.

"But I may have... been growing more fond of you for a while now", admitted Jace and sighed. "I just... I thought you were still in love with Clary. Or whatever."

"Or you were thinking about the shit Valentine taught you", offered Simon, hugging Jace closer. "But you _deserve_ to be loved. You _deserve_ to be happy."

Jace nodded and buried his face in Simon's neck, clinging onto him as much as Simon did. After a little while, the two gravitated toward the couch and laid down with each other, cuddled up to each other and talking about the other worlds they had seen. Simon told Jace everything he remembered from Blake's meetings with the Herondales, the interactions between Jace and his parents, while Jace told him about all the various ways the two of them had found each other, until very late at night, the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

* * *

_Author's note: Sooo I am absolutely loving Alberto Rosende in Chicago Fire? The visual alone is delightful and made me REALLY want firefighter!Simon/Jace fanfiction. And then I figured, hey wait a minute, why not just... Blake Gallo/Jace? Alternate realities! ^o^_


End file.
